{UAH} Allan/Pojim/WBK: Museveni cabinet job splits Obote family
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Museveni cabinet job splits Obote family
The appointment of Betty Amongi, wife of Jimmy Akena, as a minister in President Museveni's new government has set the couple on a collision course with the rest of the Milton Obote family.
Obote was the father of Akena and founding president of Uganda People's Congress. In a Wednesday telephone interview with The Observer, Tony Akaki, 53, the firstborn and heir of Obote, said the family was uncomfortable with Amongi's ministerial appointment.
"The position of the family is that…we are not happy with this...We are all depressed," Akaki said.
Asked whether they had prior knowledge of the appointment, Akaki said: "It is more complicated than that...but this man [Museveni] plays dirty. The fact is that she [Amongi] is exposed. People always misunderstood the whole thing but Jimmy was the target. We now know who the mole was."
When President Museveni announced his cabinet on Monday evening, four opposition appointees stood out. Amongst them was Oyam South MP Amongi when she was appointed minister for lands, housing and urban development. Others are Beti Kamya in charge of Kampala Capital City Authority, Ruth Achieng as minister of state for fisheries and Florence Nakiwala Kiyingi as state minister in charge of youth and children affairs.
Amongi served as Uganda People's Congress (UPC) chief whip in the 9th parliament. Kamya is the president of the opposition Uganda Federal Alliance and a former presidential candidate; Nakiwala is married to Bukomansimbi North MP and also Bukomansimbi district DP chairman Deogratius Kiyingi. She previously served as Buganda youth minister and lost to FDC's Nabilah Naggayi in the race for Kampala Woman MP. Achieng is a card-carrying member of UPC.
SOURCE OF OBJECTION
Akaki said the Obote family doesn't want anyone of their own serving in the Museveni government because of the horrendous things the latter did to their family.
"There is no way we can be happy that Betty [a wife to Jimmy] can serve in this dictatorship. It is an insult and he [Museveni] is doing it deliberately," he said.
Akaki added that it is inconceivable for any politician to serve in a government that could be referred to the International Criminal Court. "Ugandans have to pay 10 billion dollars...looting of Congo came with a price. Even the forced migration in the north is a war crime.
It is well known under international humanitarian law and any politician, especially from northern Uganda, with a conscience, cannot serve in this government," he said. "You know people forget history. He [Museveni] is a candidate of the ICC...because if you look at the five to eight million people who died in the Congo. Uhuru [Kenyatta] was taken because of 1,300 people. In Darfur, it is 1.6 million that were displaced which is roughly the same number that were displaced in Uganda. There is a case...all this is to disrupt."
DIVORCE HER
We understand that some members of the Obote family have already discussed the issue. And according to Akaki, their advice to Akena is very simple; divorce the wife.
"The other option is that let the [UPC] National Council meet and throw out this lady from the party. For Ruth Achieng, she has personal issues...with her, she does not mind. She needed this thing for personal reasons...but for Betty, it is complicated because she is the wife to the party president. It is unacceptable...The national council should do the right thing by throwing her out," he added.
Interviewed yesterday, Akena said: "I can't give a personal view because it can't be separate from that of the party. We are dealing with the matter at cabinet level. This weekend, cabinet is meeting and the position will be known."
On her part, Amongi said yesterday that she was still consulting.
"We could not discuss this because the appointment was not known," she said.
However, Amongi told us that at a personal level, her biggest interest as an elected leader was to serve the people and the nation.
"I will recognise that first as I carry out consultations. The people who voted for me are to be consulted first. And from the consultations I have made with my UPC chairperson for Oyam district and the constituency, they are okay with it [appointment]. I am going to consult the cultural and religious leaders. I don't want to drag my family in this," she said.
NOT A NEW DEVELOPMENT
In an interview with The Observer yesterday, Peter Walubiri, a de facto leader of a rival faction battling with Akena over the UPC leadership, said that Akena and family should not feign ignorance about the appointment and Amongi's transaction with NRM.
"Betty joined the NRM in the 1990s when she was working with the late [Brig Noble] Mayombo at the Movement secretariat. We knew all this. When Museveni sponsored Akena to disorganise the party...all the money was wired through Betty," he said.
Walubiri, a seasoned lawyer, told us that on Monday morning, before the president announced his cabinet, there was a UPC 'cabinet' meeting called to discuss the likely appointment of Akena and Amongi.
"However, the cabinet objected to Akena being appointed without the National Council approval. But, Museveni was desperate; so; at the last hour, he appointed Amongi. So, they should not lie about this...even the so-called cabinet is not the cabinet of the party, those are mere supporters of Akena," he said.
As regards the Obote family, Walubiri said he highly doubts they are not in Museveni's hands. "Perhaps Akaki [is not], since he has been in and out of the country. Even Mama Miria since 2009, she has been getting money through [BoU governor Tumusiime] Mutebile and [Prime Minister] Rugunda," he said.
A few years ago, Museveni handsomely contributed to the wedding of Akena and Amongi. It is also understood that in 2012, Amongi, while a member of the Parliamentary Appointments Committee, played a key role in promoting Museveni's push for the approval of Idah Nantaba as state minister for lands after the committee wanted to reject her.
As for Akaki, it is not the first time he is criticising Museveni's leadership. In 2013, Akaki wrote a book wherein he berated President Museveni for the plunder of DR Congo's resources, undemocratic governance and the poor socio-economic welfare of Ugandans.
The book, titled Mabira Forest Giveaway: A Path to Degenerative Development, describes the government's push then to donate part of Mabira forest to the Sugar Corporation of Uganda Limited as a narrow 19th century approach to development that defies tenets of sustainable development.
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